


for Space is cold, and your smile is so warm

by smallprotector



Category: Original Work
Genre: Also masturbation, Dom guides/instructs/supervises sub's masturbation, Other, Sentient AI, Soft and Fluffy, Spaceship AI - Freeform, spaceship falling in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallprotector/pseuds/smallprotector
Summary: It's Bee's first solo mission, and she's nervous. But the ship's AI is there to guide her, in any way she needs.
Relationships: AI Spaceship/sub!Pilot on her first solo mission
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11
Collections: Femsub Semi-Flash 2020





	for Space is cold, and your smile is so warm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aunt_zelda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aunt_zelda/gifts).



> So while I was writing something else, I took breaks to write something cute and fluffy! And while I really enjoyed writing this, now it's basically candy floss, with barely any kink in it... I hope you like it anyway?

When Bee boarded the small ship, she was still trembling slightly from the excitement at being given such an important assignment. They’d trusted her to fly genesets! on her very first solo mission! She’d been taught from childhood the importance of Earth-space exports of plants and animals to the farther-flung societies, who could only decide on which species could be supported after lone ly decades of yeast vats and hydroponics made it possible to support other lifeforms. She didn’t know which species she would get to transport, but she dearly hoped to see the joy in the Homebuilder’s eyes when they got their new companions. As she entered the spaceship, a pleasantly gentle voice rang out. 

“Welcome! I’m Vessa, the interface between the mechanical parts of the ship and the pilot.” 

Bee waved in the vague upward direction the voice seemed to have come from. “Hi Vessa! You can call me Bee, I’m glad to meet you. I’ll be starting the pre-flight tests, but do let me know if there’s anything I should be aware of!” 

“All systems are currently reading as standard, no abnormalities detected.” 

Bee nodded, already concentrating on the first of the many tasks necessary before they could depart. “Thanks!” The next hour was spent in with Bee getting to know the ship, checking that all the readings Vessa had access to were accurate as the steady voice talked her through every step. Bee had been prepared to go through the routine alone, but having the assurance that someone else was watching lessened the anxiety that had been growing inside of her all day. 

Finally, they were ready to take to the stars. 

“Vessa, you ready?” 

“All systems up and operational. Also: yes.” 

Bee started the initiation sequence and let her ankles dance in her boots as the low thum of the thruster engines rumbled throughout the ship. “Then off we go!”

As the ship moved, Bee watched for several minutes, making sure everything was going according to the training simulations. She switched a view panel to the backwards orientation as they flew, and watched as everyone and everything she had ever known grew smaller and smaller. 

She was alone now. 

“The next check is scheduled in an hour. Until then, I can play some music or something similar if you would like?” 

Bee smiled. She wasn’t really alone after all. “No, but could you tell me a bit about some other missions you’ve been on? Do you usually bring genesets?” 

“I can indeed. Originally, I was built to carry tools and other such necessities to the Farhomes. Once they got more self-sufficient, the cyrostorages were added and I’ve been transporting genesets ever since.” 

“What species do you usually transport? And which ones are we carrying?” 

“Generally, the vast majority of the stores genesets are plants- herbs, spices, low-yield crops that were not considered necessary for the first phases.” Bee let her head fall backwards as a smile drifted across her face, enjoying the familiarity of the words- she had read through so many plans for Homebuilding but never heard tell of it firsthand. “As for animals, rabbits, mice, and turtles are quite common, along with appropriate plants to feed them, of course. On this trip we have rabbits and mice.” 

Vessa continued, listing off the genetic variants chosen to ensure that the animals could be safely bred over generations even without contact to Earth-space and explaining the selection process for the plants (spices, it turned out, were a higher priority than grains or other starches, even if they were less calorically efficient). After a little while Bee continued her tasks, only occasionally having to prompt Vessa to continue speaking as she worked. 

With Vessa’s pleasant voice a steady companion, the hours seemed to fly by and it seemed as if barely any time had passed before it was time to rest and the lights in the ship dimmed. 

In the darkness, the ship seemed cozier and Bee’s cot looked inviting- though that might be because of the exhaustion that had swept over her as soon as she was done with her tasks. 

“Hey Vessa?”

“Yes?” 

“I’m glad you’re here to talk to.”

There was a pause, and Bee closed her eyes and snuggled into the standard-issue blankets that brought back happy memories of sleeping in dorms with her fellow pilot trainees. She almost missed the quiet response just before she drifted off to sleep. 

“I’m glad you’re here with me too.”

While Bee slept, Vessa monitored her temperature and respiration rate, adding it in the same data stream as the frequencies of light shining from the distant stars to create a collection of readings that seemed appropriate for Bee. After some deliberation, Vessa also added the faint hum of the lights where the plants on the ship were growing. 

The days passed like that, with Vessa keeping up a constant backdrop of soothing words as Bee manually reviewed random data samplings to ensure all scanners were working correctly, tended to and harvested plants too delicate to be handled any ship’s machinery, and periodically wrote summaries of any findings (or lack thereof). As time went on, Vessa learnt how to nudge Bee until she rambled on about the newest Farhomes that had been founded, and how one of her former classmates had applied to a Homebuilding ship. The subject seemed to fascinate her, and Vessa stored clips of her excitedly talking with her whole body in the directories that contained the core navigational information and ship mechanics, as close to her own directives as possible. 

Two weeks after they left, Bee’s behaviour started to change. Vessa had had enough solo missions to recognise the changes- everyone got lonely sooner or later. For some of her pilots, she adjusted the daily tasks to involve more contacts with the plants. One memorable time she had even had a pilot raise a rabbit here on the ship, calculating that allowing him to raise and keep one of the animals would increase his well-being enough the higher resource usage was justified.

With Bee, she decided to try something new. She tried being even more attentive than usual, allowing endearments to slip into her speech and praising Bee more frequently (the colour and heat signature of the faint blush that darkened Bee’s cheeks as she smiled the first time Vessa did that was stored with the life support protocols). 

It worked well, until it didn’t. 

After a week of endearments, Bee stopped asking questions as frequently, and stopped talking about her own interests, and actively sought out time in the sections of the ship where Vessa couldn’t project her voice. 

It only took a day of this behaviour for Vessa to decide that this needed to be discussed- if she had made her pilot uncomfortable, if she had misjudged so badly- It was not a scenario Vessa enjoyed running. And if so, she had to change her own behaviour immediately. 

So that later, as Bee had just finished her last task, but there was still plenty of time left before the lights dimmed she spoke. 

“I apologise for my earlier behaviour. I can tell it made you uncomfortable for me to treat you like I did, and I want you to know I won’t do that again. If there’s anything else you need me to do or change, you are always free to tell me.” 

Bee looked up, started. 

“Oh! That’s- don’t worry, I know ships- interfaces?- don’t- I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” 

“I still apologise for the error. We’re travelling together, and I want this to be a pleasant journey.” 

“It’s not- you didn’t make me uncomfortable. You just- sounded like you were… flirting? And I’m sure that was never your intention! It was just- very flattering and I just needed a little break to remind myself you weren’t- well.” 

“I don’t understand. If that’s what you wanted, of course I can make that my intention.”

“Oh no you don’t have to! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply you had to- indulge my feelings just because I’m lonely. I’ll get over it soon enough.” 

Vessa had to consider for a second. If she was being asked not to continue if her only motivation was her pilot’s loneliness, she would have to examine if those criteria were fulfilled. After going through her files for several picoseconds, she spoke. 

“You loneliness hasn’t been my primary motivation for since the first time I called you Honeybee.”

“What? But then- why?”

“Datasets where you smile are ranked higher.” 

“Oh, you have a self- optimising consciousness database? We learnt about those, I thought it was fascinating you can choose what memories or experiences you want to shape you, I kind of wished humans could do that too- but wait, you’re storing memories of me with your formative files?” 

Vessa stored away the excited movement of Bee’s legs while she talked, right next to the directory that had the instructions for plant growth. 

“Yes. The ones where you are happy are with the other system relevant files- of course, any memories where you are unhappy are also stored, mostly with the emergency protocols.”

“Oh wow. But I still don’t understand what that means for what you want.” 

“I want to see you smile. I want to make you blush. I want to have someone to talk to who enjoys our conversations. I understand we don’t conceptualise things the same- but you’ve grown important to me and your feelings are completely understandable.”

“You’ve grown important to me too. Anyway, um, if you don’t mind you can just- keep talking to me like you were last week. If that’s what you’d prefer.” 

“It is, honeybee.” 

For the next week, everything went back to normal. And if Vessa had countless new moments of Bee’s happiness tucked away in her files- well, no one else had access to them. 

They had also gotten into the habit of having Vessa talk while Bee fell asleep, her voice getting quieter as Bee’s breathing grew heavier and Vessa knew she was dreaming. Vessa indulged herself after Bee was asleep sometimes, whispering praise for everything Bee had done that day and how treasured her presence was, enjoying the thought that the words would slip into Bee’s dreams and make them as sweet as she deserved. 

During one such evening, Bee spoke up during a pause in Vessa’s story of a Homebuilder who had mistaken a male rabbit for a female one and had provided an unexpected number of groupings with young bunnies. 

“I hope the ‘builders who get these rabbits are just as excited as those ones were… But hey I was thinking about something for a little bit.”

“Yes?”

“You know how sometimes I’ve been getting myself off when I wake up?” 

“I had noticed.” She had heard the stifled moans, the datastreams merging with the colour of the stars to make a collage of light in the dark void she moved in. 

“Would you like- to be involved?” 

“Yes. But you’d need to tell me more of what you want out of this.” 

“You know how you sometimes tell me what to do when I’m tending to the plants? It’s calming, when it’s you. Lately I’ve been thinking about you talking to me like that when I, well, masturbate. If that’s something you would enjoy too.” 

“I would enjoy that. Is there anything I should be aware of that you do not like? I would not be willing to direct you to hurt yourself in a way that leaves discolouration or marks that do not fade within several minutes, I do not want to say things that are not true, and I would like this to be confined to your sleeping area.” 

“Good to know! Hm, I wouldn’t like it if you were suddenly totally different, or mean. And this probably won’t come up, but if I’m restrained or something I like my legs being left free. Oh, and I prefer not to talk? I’ll sign “stop” if I want you to stop.” 

“Will “go” work for a signed check in then?” 

“Yes! Oh and afterwards can you make sure I get under a blanket afterwards? I don’t like waking up uncovered, it feels weird.”

“Of course. Before we start, could you make sure a unit of water and one of the snack items are in the compartment next to the bed?”

“Of course, good point. Does that mean you’d be interested in trying this tonight?” 

“Yes. Was that not your intention?” 

“More like hope. But I’ll go get that and when I come back we can start?” 

“Good plan. Let me know if you have any other thoughts or concerns.”

Bee went about getting the water and a sweet snack, stopping in the storage room to clear her head for a second to examine her feelings away from the conversation with Vessa, double checking for any unease beyond the usual nervousness. When she found none, she headed back to her room, anticipation rising and making her wiggle as she walked as she made her way back. 

The room’s light had been dimmed slightly, and Vessa had Bee put away her items. Bee took a deep breath once her hands were empty, waiting for any more direction from Vessa. 

“Take off your clothing. Put it in the second drawer there- that’s right. Go get your towel from the hanger.” 

Bee followed Vessa’s directions, the familiar voice draping over her like a warm blanket and she spread the towel on the bed and lay down on it, knees drawing upwards slightly as the vulnerability of the position struck her. 

“You’re beautiful like this. My pilot. You work so hard, you deserve to feel good. Can you touch your lips for me? I want to see how soft they are against your fingers.” 

Bee let her hand drift to her face, thumb rubbing against her lip hesitantly. Vessa’s voice directed her hands as they caressed down her neck and across her chest, goosebumps raising in their wake. Bee let her eyes fall shut, focusing on the sensations sparking across her skin, so much more intense than any of her own touches had ever been. Vessa’s sweet praise swept over her, and it was as if her hands were not her own as they worked over her body, dancing with that melodic voice guiding her like the rhythm of a song.

And for a beautiful time that was all Bee knew, sheltered from the cold of space as well as all her own doubts and fears by Vessa. She was safe, and loved, and she felt so good, even after her hands were bid to still and she was cuddled under her blanket. 

Finally, after an indeterminate amount of time, Bee blinked her eyes open and interrupted Vessa’s explanation of star’s light frequency shifts and fluctuation with a quiet question “Was that- good?” 

“Yes. You were so beautiful, losing yourself in pleasure at my direction. I’ll treasure knowing I saw you like this.”

That sparked faint unease, jolting Bee enough she spoke clearly “Wait- you’ll have the files?”

“Not quite. I’ll have the knowledge that they existed, but unless you disagree, the direct recordings won’t be saved.” 

“Huh, isn’t that- upsetting? losing part of your- well, memories, I guess.”

“No. Most things that are measured aren’t kept as raw data. They come in, but only important things are saved in their original format.”

“Hey Vessa?” 

“Yes?” 

“Didn’t you have files on me just smiling saved?” 

“Yes. Those are very important.” Bee hugged her pillow close as her legs rubbed against the soft blanket, too happy to speak.

**Author's Note:**

> Does the AI system make any sense? I sure as hell don't know! I can barely use R! I don't know how a spaceship AI would work! 
> 
> ...I just think they'd be hot 
> 
> Anyway, comments are appriciated


End file.
